Sturgis runner safe after race

It has been a longtime dream for Sara Randolph of Sturgis to compete in the Boston Marathon.

By Dennis Volkertvolkert@sturgisjournal.com

It has been a longtime dream for Sara Randolph of Sturgis to compete in the Boston Marathon.

On Monday, Randolph, 37, got her chance, and finished the race in about 3 1/2 hours. But at least another hour passed before she found out about explosions that killed at least three people and injured more than 140.

After crossing the finish line around 3 p.m., she and other runners moved toward the subway. Perhaps 20 minutes later, the explosions occurred. Randolph and other competitors heard the sound, but she thought it might be something connected to Patriots Day.

"I got some water, and was going to get a bag I had checked, when we heard kaboom! Then we heard kaboom!" Randolph said Monday by telephone from Boston. "I turned to some other runners, I said, 'Oh, maybe that's cannon going off for Patriots Day ... interesting ... '"

She tried to board a subway to return to her vacation rental apartment on the city's north side. She and other passengers were told to move to the next station multiple times, but no one revealed the reason.

Randolph eventually began to walk back to the apartment, about 3 1/2 miles away, more than an hour after having run 26 miles.

Along the way, she heard sirens, but again considered it nothing out of the ordinary.

"I thought, it's not uncommon there's people possibly needing medical attention at the end (of the race) ... also, it's a big city. I didn't think anything of it."

Having left her cell phone at the apartment, Randolph returned to find she had numerous texts and voicemails.

"I got back, and my phone was going crazy," she said.

Some were from people sending congratulations about the race. There also was a message from her husband, Ross, back home in Sturgis with their four children.

"He was telling me to call him ASAP," she said. "I called him, and he said 'I'm so glad you're OK.' But she still had no idea what had transpired. "He said, 'turn on the TV.'"

Randolph received numerous calls and messages from people in the community, some whom she

didn't even realize knew she was running in the marathon, asking if she was safe.

"It was amazing," she said. "I'm humbled to be here running the marathon, I had no idea what had happened and what I was almost a part of, then to have people in Sturgis going out of their way to contact me — it's overwhelming."

Randolph had qualified for the Boston Marathon in 1997, but didn't compete because she was in college and didn't want to miss class, "plus, I couldn't afford it." She narrowly missed qualifying on two other occasions prior to making the cut in 2013.

She expected to return to Sturgis today.

Authorities on Monday had shed no light on a motive or who may have carried out the bombings, and police said they had no suspects in custody. Authorities in Washington said there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The FBI took charge of the investigation.

Police said three people were killed. Hospitals reported at least 140 injured, at least 15 of them critically. The victims' injuries included broken bones, shrapnel wounds and ruptured eardrums.

Some 23,000 runners took part in the race, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathons. One of Boston's biggest annual events, the race winds up near Copley Square, not far from the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library. It is held on Patriots Day, which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution, at Concord and Lexington in 1775.